More wide ranging, both geographically and chronologically, than any previous study, this well-illustrated book offers a new definition of Celtic art.Tempering the much-adopted art-historical approach, D.W. Harding argues for a broader definition of Celtic art and views it within a much wider archaeological context. He re-asserts ancient Celtic identity after a decade of deconstruction in English-language archaeology.Harding argues that there were communities in Iron Age Eu...

Excavated plans of roundhouses may compound multiple episodes of activity, design, construction, occupation, repair, and closure, reflecting successive stages of a building's biography. What does not survive archaeologically, through use of materials or methods that leave no tangible trace, may be as important for reconstruction as what does survive, and can only be inferred from context or comparative evidence. The great diversity in structural components suggests a greater diversity of s...

This book was written at a time when the older conventional diffusionist view of prehistory, largely associated with the work of V. Gordon Childe, was under rigorous scrutiny from British prehistorians, who still nevertheless regarded the ‘Arras’ culture of eastern Yorkshire and the ‘Belgic’ cemeteries of south-eastern Britain as the product of immigrants from continental Europe. Sympathetic to the idea of population mobility as one mechanism for cultural innovation, as widely recognized h...

An authoritative and radical rethinking of the history of Ancient Britain and Ancient Ireland, based on remarkable new archaeological finds.British history is traditionally regarded as having started with the Roman Conquest. But this is to ignore half a million years of prehistory that still exert a profound influence. Here Francis Pryor examines the great ceremonial landscapes of Ancient Britain and Ireland – Stonehenge, Seahenge, Avebury and the Bend of the Boyne – as well as the...

This is the changing story of Britain as it has been preserved in our fields, roads, buildings, towns and villages, mountains, forests and islands. From our suburban streets that still trace out the boundaries of long vanished farms to the Norfolk Broads, formed when medieval peat pits flooded, from the ceremonial landscapes of Stonehenge to the spread of the railways - evidence of how man's effect on Britain is everywhere. In The Making of the British Landscape, eminent historian...

A BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week.'Francis Pryor brings the magic of the Fens to life in a deeply personal and utterly enthralling way' TONY ROBINSON.'Pryor feels the land rather than simply knowing it' GUARDIAN.Inland from the Wash, on England's eastern cost, crisscrossed by substantial rivers and punctuated by soaring church spires, are the low-lying, marshy and mysterious Fens. Formed by marine and freshwater flooding, and h...

An invigorating journey through Britain's prehistoric landscape, and an insight into the lives of its inhabitants.'Highly compelling' Spectator, Books of the Year'An evocative foray into the prehistoric past' BBC Countryfile Magazine'Vividly relating what life was like in pre-Roman Britain' Choice Magazine'Makes life in Britain BC often sound rather more appealing than the frenetic ...

When the Celts first arrived in Ireland around 200 B.C., the island had already been inhabited for over 7000 years. Drawing on a wealth of archaeological evidence and the author's own mastery of the subject, Ancient Ireland returns to those pre-Celtic roots in a bid to discover the secrets of the island's first inhabitants: Who were they? And how did they live? Few accounts of the period are as exhaustively researched; fewer still are as alive with historical insight and compelling detail....

For over 25 years The Handbook of British Archaeology has been the foremost guide to archaeological methods, artefacts and monuments, providing clear explanations of all specialist terms used by archaeologists.This completely revised and updated edition is packed with the latest information and now includes the most recent developments in archaeological science. Meticulously researched, every section has been extensively updated by a team of experts.There are chapt...

An essential new history of ancient Ireland and the Irish, written as an engrossing detective storyAbout eighty million people today can trace their descent back to the occupants of Ireland. But where did the occupants of the island themselves come from and what do we even mean by “Irish” in the first place?This is the first major attempt to deal with the core issues of how the Irish came into being. J. P. Mallory emphasizes that the Irish did not have a single origin, but ...

This classic study of Irish culture, extensively illustrated with photographs, maps and drawings, and reissued with a new foreword and an updated bibliography, gives a detailed yet panoramic view of Ireland. It follows in the great tradition of French historiography, adding the testament of landscape, antiquities and folk custom to that of document-based history as a primary source of knowledge of our past. It is a justly acclaimed, stimulating work of instruction, entertainment and enligh...

The Tribal Hidage, attributed to the 7th century, records the named groups and polities of early Anglo-Saxon England and the taxation tribute due from their lands and surpluses. Whilst providing some indication of relative wealth and its distribution, rather little can be deduced from the Hidage concerning the underlying economic and social realities of the communities documented. Sue Harrington and the late Martin Welch have adopted a new approach to these issues, based on archaeological ...